OmniCompetence- the Divine Attribute that distinguishes the Judeo-Christian God from the Pagan gods

Omni-Competence is a term introduced to me by the Open theist John Sanders. Although I do not subscribe to open theism as foundational, I have found out that the beliefs of open theism are a natural result from the foundations of Relational Theology.

I believe that I have explained this thoroughly in my earlier blogs. Basically, God showed that He can limit the exercise of His sovereignty by the example of the Incarnate Christ. And if indeed, He has that capability of limiting His sovereignty at least temporarily out of His love, then it opens up so many possibilities including locking Himself out of much of the future except for those which He has specifically and explicitly pre-ordained and documented in Scripture.

Omni-competence is that attribute of God which is clearly superior to omnipotence as a divine quality for the following reasons:

Whereas omnipotence eliminates the concept of risk entirely by total control, omnicompetence conquers risks by demonstrating that an all-wise God can chose and effect the best options or alternatives under any circumstance to achieve His objectives in a scenario of risk or after a risk has been taken even with His hands "tied behind His back (so to speak!)".

A good example of this is the creation and fall of man. God took a risk by creating man in His image thus making Him an independent creature intellectually, emotionally, volitionally because He created a being with free will. God therefore "risked" making a creature who had the independent capability to rebel against Him or even curse Him. In the light of such risk, however, the Bibilical record clearly shows how He devised, outlined, communicated and implemented THE ONLY redemption plan thus achieving victory after taking a risk.

Sure, the risk He took would cost millions of souls condemned to hell but it would also set apart a people of GENUINE faith who would use their distinct individual independence to yield themselves willingly back to the God who created them. He would be achieving His goal of populating heaven with ONLY kingdom-minded individuals who desire and treasure personal relationship with God the same way God sought it and courted man to get His end. This, after all, is really God's grand objective in creation and defines his role in history (See God's "Trial-and-Error" Attempts to Create a People of Faith for His Kingdom  for a more thorough discussion.).

Omni-competence would have its main application in the exciting way God would respond to the prayers of His people and children as well as in the way He brings adventure to the way He works out and brings to fruition His earthbound will of each of His children while they live on earth, e.g., career, marriage, relationships, choices, etc. as well as, of course, our gradual conforming to the image of Christ which is His will for ALL His children.

As a follow-up clarification note, God's omni-competence does NOT in any way negate His omnipotence. In fact, it even magnifies omnipotence. Nevertheless, all throughout Scripture, there is more of God exercising omni-competence instead of sheer omnipotence. A practical conclusion of such revelation is that although God is truly omni-potent, He has CLEARLY revealed and shown that He practices omni-competence in His dealings with man and His dealings with history. The more a Bible student accepts this premise the more he begins to see exciting things in Scripture, especially in the Old Testament, of how God deals with the prototype of his Kingdom.